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Pension trustees disagree

Pension board members and Longboat Key residents Michael Seamon and Arnold Malasky don’t agree on whether there is a pension-funding problem at Town Hall and how to fix it.

Police pension board trustee Seamon wrote a letter to Commissioner Gene Jaleski dated March 19, explaining the pension plans are safe, the town’s future obligations are reasonable and unfunded liabilities are being properly managed.

But firefighter pension board trustee Malasky responded to Seamon’s letter with his own letter to Jaleski, making the following points:

• The town’s pension plans are safe as long as the town doesn’t go bankrupt.
• The town’s fiscal year contributions to the pension plans are debatable.
• The town’s unfunded liabilities are being amortized on less than an interest only basis, which many people would not consider proper management.
• Reducing pension benefits would certainly reduce the town’s pension costs.

For more information, including Seamon’s response to Malasky’s letter, pick up a copy of the April 15 edition of The Longboat Observer.